Thermal performance of Kresling origami structures as deployable heat fins

Abstract

This paper investigates the thermal performance of Kresling origami structures as compact, deployable heat fins for adaptive thermal management applications. These fins are designed to actuate along the surface of interest, enabling space-efficient geometric transformations that influence both convective and conductive heat transfer mechanisms. To evaluate their effectiveness, both numerical and experimental analyses of the conductive and convective behavior of Kresling origami fins are conducted. Experimental measurements are performed in a controlled wind tunnel environment, while numerical results are obtained using a three-dimensional transient model based on the fundamental conservation laws of mass, momentum, and energy. The results indicate that the contracted Kresling fin achieves a 20% higher Nusselt number compared to the expanded configuration at low Reynolds numbers, along with improved temperature uniformity across the surface. These findings demonstrate the potential of Kresling origami as an efficient and reconfigurable thermal management solution, particularly for systems requiring adaptability.